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Pablo Vargas
|job=Clothing factory floor manager |path=Serial Rapist Abductor Serial Killer |signature=Two distinct signatures: *Kissing victims' necks and asking them, "How did I do?" *Stealing jewelry belonging to victims' daughters |mo=Abduction and rape Stabbing |victims=13-14 killed 1 attempted 13 raped 1 attempted rape |status=Deceased |actor=Alejandro Patiño |appearance="Machismo" }} Pablo Vargas was a Mexican serial rapist and abductor-turned-serial killer who appeared in the Season One episode "Machismo". Background Almost nothing is known about Vargas' early life, other than his mother died at some point (possibly at his hands) and that he was employed as the floor manager of women's plus sizes in a clothing factory in Allende del Sol, Mexico. He left his mother's corpse in the living room of their home, situated in front of a television that was constantly running. At some point in his life, he began cross-dressing for unknown reasons. In 2003, Vargas began raping young women, ambushing them in the street, forcing them into the desert at knifepoint, and blindfolding them before committing the act. Once it was over, Vargas would kiss the woman's neck, ask "How did I do?", and leave. In the fall of 2004, Vargas attacked his fourteenth victim, a waitress named Milagros Villanueva, who struggled more than the other women, managing to give him several minor injuries. After being wounded by Villanueva, Vargas was mocked and laughed at by the woman, who had noticed he was wearing a dress. Discouraged and humiliated, Vargas fled the scene without being able to successfully rape her. A month later, he attacked the mother of his first victim, believing the elderly would be easier to rape. During the attack, Vargas, having been unable to get over the feelings of emasculation his failed rape of Villanueva left him with, was unable to rape the old woman, and in a rage, stabbed her, discovering murder was a satisfactory substitute for rape. Targeting the mothers of his rape victims, Vargas killed one about every nine weeks, committing eleven murders in two years. While the Mexican media was convinced a serial killer was on the loose, the government was reluctant to admit this, and the slayings continued. Machismo Going on vacation from his job, Vargas murders Lupe Trejo on his first day off and, seemingly in a frenzy, kills Isabel Santiago only two days later, taking a necklace she was wearing (which belonged to her daughter) and bringing it back to his house. Once home, Vargas places the necklace on his mother's body, along with other accessories he had stolen from his victims, and applies makeup to himself, throwing a fit in the midst of it and smashing the mirror, before going to caress his mother's hair. Later, Vargas heads to the home of Nina Villanueva (Milagros' mother) and is attacked on the property by his rape victims as well as Nina, who had discerned his identity due to the local police and the BAU's investigation of the murders. After being brutally beaten, Vargas is castrated with a kitchen knife (Milagros stating "He pretended to be a woman. Now he doesn't have to pretend.") and is left bleeding outside, where the BAU and police find him. He most likely died from his injuries, which appeared to be extremely severe. Profile The unsub is a Hispanic heterosexual male who is aged thirty-five to fifty, based on the number of times he has killed and the skill of gaining the trust of his victims. He blends into the poor neighborhoods he targets and (since the homes of his victims showed no signs of forced entry) appears non-threatening and is capable of making his victims feel at ease due to disguising himself as a woman, as evidence at the scene and the testimony of Roberto González indicated. Using his disguise, the unsub probably pretends to be a nurse or social worker, like most Old Lady Killer-type offenders. The heavy mutilation inflicted to the face, chest and genitals of the victims indicates the murders are sexually motivated, with the unsub attacking the subjects of his attraction. Before escalating to murder, the unsub probably committed other sex crimes, such as peeping and rape, and when rape stopped being enough, he began killing women who reminded him of a repressive authority figure in his life, like his mother or grandmother, who he blames for his perceived impotence. After interviewing his rape victims, the unsub is classified as a power-reassurance rapist, meaning he is passive, non-athletic, lacks confidence, is incapable of having normal relationships with women, and lives or works near his victims. The unsub probably fantasized that the women he raped were his girlfriends, and would be dissuaded if they had fought back or screamed. The unsub asking "How did I do?" after the sexual assaults confirmed he lacked confidence, as the confidence do not need reassurance that they did a good job; they just assume they did. In his workplace, he may act somewhat inappropriately around female coworkers, would be unable to look his boss in the eye, and desperately wants approval from his superiors, no matter how small the job. The stressor that caused the unsub to stop raping young women and begin killing old ones was assumed to be rape victim Milagros Villanueva fighting him off and mocking him, making him feel humiliated and emasculated. Deciding to attack an older woman after the incident, likely thinking she would be easier to overpower, the unsub found he was unable to go through with the rape, his feelings of emasculation still lingering heavily, and thus he grew enraged and murdered the victim, discovering killing gave him the same sexual release that rape did. Until he is stopped, the unsub will continue killing, his cooling-off period growing shorter as his need for sexual release grows. Modus Operandi As a serial rapist, Vargas disguised himself as a woman using plus-size clothing, presumably taken from his workplace, approached young Hispanic women in the streets, came up from behind them, put a knife to their backs, and took them out to the desert, where he would blindfold and rape them. His signature for the rapes was kissing his victim's neck, and asking "How did I do?" after he was finished. At home, he would place flyers showing his victim's faces on the living room wall, presumably using them to relive the rapes. After he escalated from raping young women to murdering their elderly mothers, Vargas would still disguise himself as a woman using the same plus-size clothing, knock on their doors, pretend to be a nurse or social worker from a city, and enter their homes when they answered. Once inside, Vargas would overpower the victims, and stab them repeatedly in the face, chest, and genitals (except for his last victim, Isabel Santiago, who was only stabbed in the chest and genitals) with a knife, possibly taken from the kitchen (since it would have been difficult to hide a knife in his disguise), as was the case in Lupe Trejo's murder. Once the victim is dead, Vargas would take pieces of jewelry belonging to their daughter and bring it home to place on his mother's corpse. In the case of Lupe Trejo, he placed jewelry on her body, presumably out of remorse. He would always kill his victims in chronological order in accordance to his rapes. Real-Life Comparisons Vargas appears to have been mostly based on Andrei Chikatilo (whom he was compared to by Gideon) - Both were serial killers who had a managing job in a factory and were very shy and insecure with other people (particularly with women), felt mocked and humiliated by them, had a traumatic relationship with his mother, and were sexually impotent, only managing to ejaculate when he stabbed his victims to death in fits of rage because of their impotence. Both also committed sex crimes against young women prior to their murders. He also appears to have been based on José Antonio Rodríguez Vega - Both were serial killers and rapists who were active in Spanish-speaking countries, targeted younger women before switching to raping and killing elderly women (though Vargas was unable to consummate during his second spree), took mementos from their victims, had difficult relationships with their mothers, and remained active for longer periods of time because law enforcement initially did not recognize the presence of a serial killer despite the outward signs, and both were ultimately killed with bladed weaponry by numerous individuals outside of law enforcement at the end of their murders. Vargas' (possible) murder of his mother may have also been a reference to Rodríguez Vega wishing he did the same to his own mother. Vargas may have also been based on Juana Barraza - Both were Mexican serial killers with rocky relationships with their mothers, targeted lone old women, gained access to their homes by posing as a nurse or social worker, used objects taken from the house to kill their victims, took trophies, and were captured while fleeing the home of their last victim. Also in both cases, local law enforcement was criticized by the media for refusing to admit that a serial killer was involved at first, and later for centering their suspicions on a transvestite prostitute despite having little reason to do so. However, unlike Barraza, who was only believed to be a transvestite male before her capture, Vargas really was one. Known Victims ***Rosa Trejo ***Anna Santiago **August 30: Milagros Villanueva Cruz Murders *Unspecified date: His unnamed mother *September 21, 2004: Elena Gutiérrez Torres *2005: **January 14: Juanita Rodríguez Gómez **March 6: Patricia Fernández Cortez **April 3: Marielys Espinoza Reyes **June 27: Gloria Rivas Robles **September 19-26: Carla Chávez Morales **December 19: Adriana Flores Martinez *2006: **January 31: Isabel Silva De Ochoa **February 14: Regina Cortez Sánchez **June 30: Linda Quintanilla Montes **September 6: Raquel Trevino **November 1: Lupe Trejo **November 3: Isabel Santiago **November 4: Nina Cruz Villanueva }} Notes *Pablo Vargas is the first of only eleven serial killers in the show's history to have killed at least a dozen victims, yet not be a prolific killer because the span of their crimes was less than three years. The rest are: **Season Two ***Charles Holcombe ("Legacy") - A "house cleaner"-type serial killer who killed at least 64 victims within at least a year. **Season Three ***Stanley Howard ("Scared to Death") - A serial killer who killed 17 victims within a two-year span. ***Jonny McHale ("True Night") - A spree killer, one-time mass murderer, one-time abductor, and vigilante who killed 14 victims within a 16-day span. **Season Four ***Armando Salinas ("Catching Out") - A serial-turned-spree killer, robber, and one-time cop killer who killed 14 victims within a 32-day span. ***Eric Olson ("Zoe's Reprise") - A serial killer, copycat, and budding serial rapist-turned-spree killer who killed 12 victims in an almost two-month span. **Season Six ***James Thomas ("Compromising Positions") - A serial-turned-spree killer and one-time mass murderer who killed 15 victims in at least two weeks. **Season Seven ***Trevor Mills ("A Thin Line") - A serial killer, family annihilator, and abductor-turned-spree killer and attempted assassin who killed 17 victims within an eight-day span. **Season Eight ***Larry Feretich ("Brothers Hotchner") - A poisoner, serial-turned-spree killer, and one-time mass murderer who killed 15 victims within a 29-day span. **Season Thirteen ***Kevon Winters ("Miasma") - A "house cleaner" and "angel of death"-type serial killer and poisoner-turned-arsonist who killed 13 victims within a 24-day span ***Mark Henshaw ("All You Can Eat") - A poisoner, stalker, and serial killer-turned-mass murderer who killed 12 victims in a three-day span. *The BAU team makes the connection that the unsub kills the mothers of the raped women by matching their last names; for example, the first rape victim is called "Julia Torres Morales" and her mom is "Elena Gutiérrez Torres". However, in Mexico (in all Spanish-speaking countries, actually), married women tend to keep their last name instead of replacing it with their husband's, and people typically use both of their parents' last names in their full name (in Julia's case, "Torres" would be her father's last name and "Morales" her mother's). So either the mother should have as her first last name "Morales" or her name should be "Elena Gutiérrez De Torres", which is the only way married women use their husband's last name. This was likely just an error on the writer's part. *Vargas has some similarities to Norman Bates, the fictional serial killer from the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho - Both killed their victims by stabbing them, both dressed as women during their murders and both kept the skeletal bodies of their own mothers at their homes. Appearances *Season One **"Machismo" References Category:Criminal Minds Characters Category:Criminals Category:Serial Killers Category:Serial Rapists Category:Abductors Category:Season One Criminals Category:Deceased Criminals Category:Foreign Criminals Category:Murder Victims Category:Mutilators